Catholic University of America (CUA) students try Philippine-made products at the Philippine Embassy booth in this year’s Global Fest featuring Embassy Row held at CUA’s Pryz Great Room on 15 February 2017.

WASHINGTON — The Philippine Embassy joined international student groups, academic departments, administrative offices, and other embassies in Washington, D.C. at the 2017 Global Fest featuring Embassy Row held at the Pryz Great Room of the Catholic University of America (CUA) on 15 February 2017.

Global Fest aims to capture the sights, sounds and tastes of global cultures through cultural displays, performances and food samples from around the world.

For this year’s event, the Philippine Embassy set up a booth showcasing Philippine-made products — biscuits, candies and corn nuts — and displayed country information materials while playing a video presentation of some of the most exciting tourism destinations in the country.

CUA undergraduate students, including several Filipino-American students, visited the Philippine booth to try and enjoy the locally made goodies and watch the tourism video presentation.

Prior to the opening of the Global Fest, CUA organized a short program to welcome the participating embassies and other organizations to the event.

“We are very privileged to be in Washington, D.C. with our very strong international community. And for that reason I am very grateful for your presence today because you are part of this team of making international relations possible at Catholic University,” said Dr. Mario Ortiz, CUA’s Associate Provost for International Affairs, in his welcome remarks.

“Recruiting internationally brings a huge dose of diversity to the campus, and diversity in so many ways — ethnic diversity, religious diversity. Being a Catholic university, the idea that you can bring students with different backgrounds, different ideas, and different religious practices into campus is a huge bonus for the students,” Mr. James Dewey-Rosenfield, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, emphasized in his remarks.

Director of Education Abroad, Ms. Grace Schneider and Ms. Gudrun Kendon, Director of International Student and Scholar Services, also gave brief presentations on the University’s admission process, Education Abroad, and international scholarship program.

This year’s Global Fest was organized as part of CUA’s International Week celebration and was co-sponsored by the Office of Admissions and the International Student and Scholar Services Office.